The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

W >> William H. Prescott >> The History Of The Conquest Of Peru

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70

Such, to a certain extent, is the fact; and this circumstance
affords a means of comparison which would alone render his works
of great value in arriving at just historic conclusions. But
Garcilasso wrote late in life, after the story had been often
told by Castilian writers. He naturally deferred much to men,
some of whom enjoyed high credit on the score both of their
scholarship and their social position. His object, he professes,
was not so much to add any thing new of his own, as to correct
their errors and the misconceptions into which they had been
brought by their ignorance of the Indian languages and the usages
of his people. He does, in fact, however, go far beyond this;
and the stores of information which he has collected have made
his work a large repository, whence later laborers in the same
field have drawn copious materials. He writes from the fulness
of his heart, and illuminates every topic that he touches with a
variety and richness of illustration, that leave little to be
desired by the most importunate curiosity. The difference
between reading his Commentaries and the accounts of European
writers is the difference that exists between reading a work in
the original and in a bald translation. Garcilasso's writings
are an emanation from the Indian mind.

Yet his Commentaries are open to a grave objection, - and one
naturally suggested by his position. Addressing himself to the
cultivated European, he was most desirous to display the ancient
glories of his people, and still more of the Inca race, in their
most imposing form. This, doubtless, was the great spur to his
literary labors, for which previous education, however good for
the evil time on which he was cast, had far from qualified him.
Garcilasso, therefore, wrote to effect a particular object. He
stood forth as counsel for his unfortunate countrymen, pleading
the cause of that degraded race before the tribunal of posterity.
The exaggerated tone of panegyric consequent on this becomes
apparent in every page of his work. He pictures forth a state of
society, such as an Utopian philosopher would hardly venture to
depict. His royal ancestors became the types of every imaginary
excellence, and the golden age is revived for a nation, which,
while the war of proselytism is raging on its borders, enjoys
within all the blessings of tranquillity and peace. Even the
material splendors of the monarchy, sufficiently great in this
land of gold, become heightened, under the glowing imagination of
the Inca chronicler, into the gorgeous illusions of a fairy tale.

Yet there is truth at the bottom of his wildest conceptions, and
it would be unfair to the Indian historian to suppose that he did
not himself believe most of the magic marvels which he describes.
There is no credulity like that of a Christian convert, - one
newly converted to the faith. From long dwelling in the darkness
of paganism, his eyes, when first opened to the light of truth,
have not acquired the power of discriminating the just
proportions of objects, of distinguishing between the real and
the imaginary. Garcilasso was not a convert, indeed, for he was
bred from infancy in the Roman Catholic faith. But he was
surrounded by converts and neophytes, - by those of his own
blood, who, after practising all their lives the rites of
paganism, were now first admitted into the Christian fold. He
listened to the teachings of the missionary, learned from him to
give implicit credit to the marvellous legends of the Saints, and
the no less marvellous accounts of his own victories in his
spiritual warfare for the propagation of the faith. Thus early
accustomed to such large drafts on his credulity, his reason lost
its heavenly power of distinguishing truth from error, and he
became so familiar with the miraculous, that the miraculous was
no longer a miracle.
Yet, while large deductions are to be made on this account from
the chronicler's reports, there is always a germ of truth which
it is not difficult to detect, and even to disengage from the
fanciful covering which envelopes it; and after every allowance
for the exaggerations of national vanity, we shall find an
abundance of genuine information in respect to the antiquities of
his country, for which we shall look in vain in any European
writer.

Garcilasso's work is the reflection of the age in which he lived.
It is addressed to the imagination, more than to sober reason.
We are dazzled by the gorgeous spectacle it perpetually exhibits,
and delighted by the variety of amusing details and animated
gossip sprinkled over its pages. The story of the action is
perpetually varied by discussions on topics illustrating its
progress, so as to break up the monotony of the narrative, and
afford an agreeable relief to the reader. This is true of the
First Part of his great work. In the Second there was no longer
room for such discussion. But he has supplied the place by
garrulous reminiscences, personal anecdotes, incidental
adventures, and a host of trivial details, - trivial in the eyes
of the pedant, - which historians have been too willing to
discard, as below the dignity of history. We have the actors in
this great drama in their private dress, become acquainted with
their personal habits, listen to their familiar sayings, and, in
short, gather up those minutiae which in the aggregate make up so
much of life, and not less of character.

It is this confusion of the great and the little, thus artlessly
blended together, that constitutes one of the charms of the old
romantic chronicle, - not the less true that, in this respect, it
approaches nearer to the usual tone of romance. It is in such
writings that we may look to find the form and pressure of the
age. The worm-eaten state-papers, official correspondence,
public records, are all serviceable, indispensable, to history.
They are the framework on which it is to repose; the skeleton of
facts which gives it its strength and proportions. But they are
as worthless as the dry bones of the skeleton, unless clothed
with the beautiful form and garb of humanity, and instinct with
the spirit of the age. - Our debt is large to the antiquarian,
who with conscientious precision lays broad and deep the
foundations of historic truth; and no less to the philosophic
annalist who exhibits man in the dress of public life, - man in
masquerade; but our gratitude must surely not be withheld from
those, who, like Garcilasso de la Vega, and many a romancer of
the Middle Ages, have held up the mirror - distorted though it
may somewhat be - to the interior of life, reflecting every
object, the great and the mean, the beautiful and the deformed,
with their natural prominence and their vivacity of coloring, to
the eye of the spectator. As a work of art, such a production
may be thought to be below criticism. But, although it defy the
rules of art in its composition, it does not necessarily violate
the principles of taste; for it conforms in its spirit to the
spirit of the age in which it was written. And the critic, who
coldly condemns it on the severe principles of art, will find a
charm in its very simplicity, that will make him recur again and
again to its pages, while more correct and classical compositions
are laid aside and forgotten.

I cannot dismiss this notice of Garcilasso, though already long
protracted, without some allusion to the English translation of
his Commentaries. It appeared in James the Second's reign, and
is the work of Sir Paul Rycaut, Knight. It was printed at
London, in 1688, in folio, with considerable pretension in its
outward dress, well garnished with wood-cuts, and a frontispiece
displaying the gaunt and rather sardonic features, not of the
author, but his translator. The version keeps pace with the
march of the original, corresponding precisely in books and
chapters, and seldom, though sometimes, using the freedom, so
common in these ancient versions, of abridgment and omission.
Where it does depart from the original, it is rather from
ignorance than intention. Indeed, as far as the plea of
ignorance will avail him, the worthy knight may urge it stoutly
in his defence. No one who reads the book will doubt his limited
acquaintance with his own tongue, and no one who compares it with
the original will deny his ignorance of the Castilian. It
contains as many blunders as paragraphs, and most of them such as
might shame a schoolboy. Yet such are the rude charms of the
original, that this ruder version of it has found considerable
favor with readers; and Sir Paul Rycaut's translation, old as it
is, may still be met with in many a private, as well as public
library.

Book III: Conquest Of Peru

Chapter I

Pizarro's Reception At Court. - His Capitulation With The Crown.
- He Visits His Birthplace. - Returns To The New World. -
Difficulties With Almagro. - His Third Expedition. - Adventures
On The Coast. - Battles In The Isle Of Puna.
1528-1531.

Pizarro and his officer, having crossed the Isthmus, embarked at
Nombre de Dios for the old country, and, after a good passage,
reached Seville early in the summer of 1528. There happened to
be at that time in port a person well known in the history of
Spanish adventure as the Bachelor Enciso. He had taken an active
part in the colonization of Tierra Firme, and had a pecuniary
claim against the early colonists of Darien, of whom Pizarro was
one. Immediately on the landing of the latter, he was seized by
Enciso's orders, and held in custody for the debt. Pizarro, who
had fled from his native land as a forlorn and houseless
adventurer, after an absence of more than twenty years, passed,
most of them, in unprecedented toil and suffering, now found
himself on his return the inmate of a prison. Such was the
commencement of those brilliant fortunes which, as he had
trusted, awaited him at home. The circumstance excited general
indignation; and no sooner was the Court advised of his arrival
in the country, and the great purpose of his mission, than orders
were sent for his release, with permission to proceed at once on
his journey.

Pizarro found the emperor at Toledo, which he was soon to quit,
in order to embark for Italy. Spain was not the favorite
residence of Charles the Fifth, in the earlier part of his reign.
He was now at that period of it when he was enjoying the full
flush of his triumphs over his gallant rival of France, whom he
had defeated and taken prisoner at the great battle of Pavia; and
the victor was at this moment preparing to pass into Italy to
receive the imperial crown from the hands of the Roman Pontiff.
Elated by his successes and his elevation to the German throne,
Charles made little account of his hereditary kingdom, as his
ambition found so splendid a career thrown open to it on the wide
field of European politics. He had hitherto received too
inconsiderable returns from his transatlantic possessions to give
them the attention they deserved. But, as the recent acquisition
of Mexico and the brilliant anticipations in respect to the
southern continent were pressed upon his notice, he felt their
importance as likely to afford him the means of prosecuting his
ambitious and most expensive enterprises.
Pizarro, therefore, who had now come to satisfy the royal eyes,
by visible proofs, of the truth of the golden rumors which, from
time to time, had reached Castile, was graciously received by the
emperor. Charles examined the various objects which his officer
exhibited to him with great attention. He was particularly
interested by the appearance of the llama, so remarkable as the
only beast of burden yet known on the new continent; and the fine
fabrics of woollen cloth, which were made from its shaggy sides,
gave it a much higher value, in the eyes of the sagacious
monarch, than what it possessed as an animal for domestic labor.
But the specimens of gold and silver manufacture, and the
wonderful tale which Pizarro had to tell of the abundance of the
precious metals, must have satisfied even the cravings of royal
cupidity.

[See Pizarro And Charles V: Pizarro describes to Charles V of
Spain the tempting riches of Peru]

Pizarro, far from being embarrassed by the novelty of his
situation, maintained his usual self-possession, and showed that
decorum and even dignity in his address which belong to the
Castilian. He spoke in a simple and respectful style, but with
the earnestness and natural eloquence of one who had been an
actor in the scenes he described, and who was conscious that the
impression he made on his audience was to decide his future
destiny. All listened with eagerness to the account of his
strange adventures by sea and land, his wanderings in the
forests, or in the dismal and pestilent swamps on the sea-coast,
without food, almost without raiment, with feet torn and bleeding
at every step, with his few companions becoming still fewer by
disease and death, and yet pressing on with unconquerable spirit
to extend the empire of Castile, and the name and power of her
sovereign; but when he painted his lonely condition on the
desolate island, abandoned by the government at home, deserted by
all but a handful of devoted followers, his royal auditor, though
not easily moved, was affected to tears. On his departure from
Toledo, Charles commended the affairs of his vassal in the most
favorable terms to the consideration of the Council of the
Indies. *1

[Footnote 1: Pedro Pizarro, Descub. y Conq., Ms. - Naharro,
Relacion Sumaria, Ms. - Conq. i. Pob. del Piru, Ms.

"Hablaba tan bien en la materia, que se llevo los aplausos y
atencion en Toledo donde el Emperador estaba diole audiencia con
mucho gusto, tratolo amoroso, y oyole tierno, especialmente
cuando le hizo relacion de su consistencia y de los trece
compaeros en la Isla en medio de tantos trabajos." Montesinos,
Annales, Ms., ao 1528.]

There was at this time another man at court, who had come there
on a similar errand from the New World, but whose splendid
achievements had already won for him a name that threw the rising
reputation of Pizarro comparatively into the shade. This man was
Hernando Cortes, the Conqueror of Mexico. He had come home to
lay an empire at the feet of his sovereign, and to demand in
return the redress of his wrongs, and the recompense of his great
services. He was at the close of his career, as Pizarro was at
the commencement of his; the Conqueror of the North and of the
South; the two men appointed by Providence to overturn the most
potent of the Indian dynasties, and to open the golden gates by
which the treasures of the New World were to pass into the
coffers of Spain.

Notwithstanding the emperor's recommendation, the business of
Pizarro went forward at the tardy pace with which affairs are
usually conducted in the court of Castile. He found his limited
means gradually sinking under the expenses incurred by his
present situation, and he represented, that, unless some measures
were speedily taken in reference to his suit, however favorable
they might be in the end, he should be in no condition to profit
by them. The queen, accordingly, who had charge of the business,
on her husband's departure, expedited the affair, and on the
twenty-sixth of July, 1529, she executed the memorable
Capitulation, which defined the powers and privileges of Pizarro.

The instrument secured to that chief the right of discovery and
conquest in the province of Peru, or New Castile, - as the
country was then called in the same manner as Mexico had received
the name of New Spain, - for the distance of two hundred leagues
south of Santiago. He was to receive the titles and rank of
Governor and Captain-General of the province, together with those
of Adelantado, and Alguacil Mayor, for life; and he was to have a
salary of seven hundred and twenty-five thousand maravedis, with
the obligation of maintaining certain officers and military
retainers, corresponding with the dignity of his station. He was
to have the right to erect certain fortresses, with the absolute
government of them; to assign encomiendas of Indians, under the
limitations prescribed by law; and, in fine, to exercise nearly
all the prerogatives incident to the authority of a viceroy.

His associate, Almagro, was declared commander of the fortress of
Tumbez, with an annual rent of three hundred thousand maravedis,
and with the further rank and privileges of an hidalgo. The
reverend Father Luque received the reward of his services in the
Bishopric of Tumbez, and he was also declared Protector of the
Indians of Peru. He was to enjoy the yearly stipend of a
thousand ducats, - to be derived, like the other salaries and
gratuities in this instrument, from the revenues of the conquered
territory.
Nor were the subordinate actors in the expedition forgotten.
Ruiz received the title of Grand Pilot of the Southern Ocean,
with a liberal provision; Candia was placed at the head of the
artillery; and the remaining eleven companions on the desolate
island were created hidalgos and cavalleros, and raised to
certain municipal dignities, - in prospect.
Several provisions of a liberal tenor were also made, to
encourage emigration to the country. The new settlers were to be
exempted from some of the most onerous, but customary taxes, as
the alcabala, or to be subject to them only in a mitigated form.
The tax on the precious metals drawn from mines was to be
reduced, at first, to one tenth, instead of the fifth imposed on
the same metals when obtained by barter or by rapine.

It was expressly enjoined on Pizarro to observe the existing
regulations for the good government and protection of the
natives; and he was required to carry out with him a specified
number of ecclesiastics, with whom he was to take counsel in the
conquest of the country, and whose efforts were to be dedicated
to the service and conversion of the Indians; while lawyers and
attorneys, on the other hand, whose presence was considered as
boding ill to the harmony of the new settlements, were strictly
prohibited from setting foot in them.

Pizarro, on his part, was bound, in six months from the date of
the instrument, to raise a force, well equipped for the service,
of two hundred and fifty men, of whom one hundred might be drawn
from the colonies; and the government engaged to furnish some
trifling assistance in the purchase of artillery and military
stores. Finally, he was to be prepared, in six months after his
return to Panama, to leave that port and embark on his
expedition. *2

[Footnote 2: This remarkable document, formerly in the archives
of Simancas, and now transferred to the Archivo General de las
Indias in Seville, was transcribed for the rich collection of the
late Don Martin Fernandez de Navarrete, to whose kindness I am
indebted for a copy of it. - It will be found printed entire, in
the original, in Appendix, No. 7.]

Such are some of the principal provisions of this Capitulation,
by which the Castilian government, with the sagacious policy
which it usually pursued on the like occasions, stimulated the
ambitious hopes of the adventurer by high-sounding titles, and
liberal promises of reward contingent on his success, but took
care to stake nothing itself on the issue of the enterprise. It
was careful to reap the fruits of his toil, but not to pay the
cost of them.

A circumstance, that could not fail to be remarked in these
provisions, was the manner in which the high and lucrative posts
were accumulated on Pizarro, to the exclusion of Almagro, who, if
he had not taken as conspicuous a part in personal toil and
exposure, had, at least, divided with him the original burden of
the enterprise, and, by his labors in another direction, had
contributed quite as essentially to its success. Almagro had
willingly conceded the post of honor to his confederate; but it
had been stipulated, on Pizarro's departure for Spain, that,
while he solicited the office of Governor and Captain-General for
himself, he should secure that of Adelantado for his companion.
In like manner, he had engaged to apply for the see of Tumbez for
the vicar of Panama, and the office of Alguacil Mayor for the
pilot Ruiz. The bishopric took the direction that was concerted,
for the soldier could scarcely claim the mitre of the prelate;
but the other offices, instead of their appropriate distribution,
were all concentred in himself. Yet it was in reference to his
application for his friends, that Pizarro had promised on his
departure to deal fairly and honorably by them all. *3

[Footnote 3: "Al fin se capitulo, que Francisco Picarro negociase
la Governacion para si: i para Diego de Almagro, el
Adelantamiento: i para Hernando de Luque, el Obispado: i para
Bartolome Ruiz, el Alguacilazgo Maior: i Mercedes para los que
quedaban vivos, de los trece Comapaeros, afirmando siempre
Francisco Picarro, que todo lo queria para ellos, i prometiendo,
que negociaria lealmente, i sin ninguna cautela." Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 4, lib. 3, cap. 1.]

It is stated by the military chronicler, Pedro Pizarro, that his
kinsman did, in fact, urge the suit strongly in behalf of
Almagro; but that he was refused by the government, on the ground
that offices of such paramount importance could not be committed
to different individuals. The ill effects of such an arrangement
had been long since felt in more than one of the Indian colonies,
where it had led to rivalry and fatal collision. *4 Pizarro,
therefore, finding his remonstrances unheeded, had no alternative
but to combine the offices in his own person, or to see the
expedition fall to the ground. This explanation of the affair
has not received the sanction of other contemporary historians.
The apprehensions expressed by Luque, at the time of Pizarro's
assuming the mission, of some such result as actually occurred,
founded, doubtless, on a knowledge of his associate's character,
may warrant us in distrusting the alleged vindication of his
conduct, and our distrust will not be diminished by familiarity
with his subsequent career. Pizarro's virtue was not of a kind to
withstand temptation, - though of a much weaker sort than that
now thrown in his path.

[Footnote 4: "Y don Francisco Picarro pidio conforme a lo que
llevava capitulado y hordenado con sus compaeros ya dicho, y en
el consejo se le rrespondio que no avia lugar de dar governacion
a dos compaeros, a caussa de que en santa marta se avia dado
ansi a dos compaeros y el uno avia muerto al otro . . . . . .
Pues pedido, como digo, muchas vezes por don Francisco Picarro se
les hiziese la merced a ambos compaeros, se le rrespondio la
pidiesse parassi sino que se daria a otro, y visto que no avia
lugar lo que pedia y queria pedio se le hiziese la merced a el, y
ansi se le hizo." Descub. y Conq. Ms.]

The fortunate cavalier was also honored with the habit of St.
Jago; *5 and he was authorized to make an important innovation in
his family escutcheon, - for by the father's side he might claim
his armorial bearings. The black eagle and the two pillars
emblazoned on the royal arms were incorporated with those of the
Pizarros; and an Indian city, with a vessel in the distance on
the waters, and the llama of Peru, revealed the theatre and the
character of his exploits; while the legend announced, that
"under the auspices of Charles, and by the industry, the genius,
and the resources of Pizarro, the country had been discovered and
reduced to tranquillity," - thus modestly intimating both the
past and prospective services of the Conqueror. *6

[Footnote 5: Xerez, Conq. del Peru, ap. Barcia, tom. III. p. 182.
- Oviedo, Hist. de las Indias, Ms., Parte 3, lib. 8, cap. 1. -
Caro de Torres, Historia de las Ordenes Militares, (ed. Madrid,
1629,) p. 113.]

[Footnote 6: "Caroli Caesaris auspicio, et labore, ingenio, ac
impensa Ducis Picarro inventa, et pacata.' Herrera, Hist.
General, dec. 4 lib. 6, cap. 5.]

These arrangements having been thus completed to Pizarro's
satisfaction, he left Toledo for Truxillo, his native place, in
Estremadura, where he thought he should be most likely to meet
with adherents for his new enterprise, and where it doubtless
gratified his vanity to display himself in the palmy, or at least
promising, state of his present circumstances. If vanity be ever
pardonable, it is certainly in a man who, born in an obscure
station in life, without family, interest, or friends to back
him, has carved out his own fortunes in the world, and, by his
own resources, triumphed over all the obstacles which nature and
accident had thrown in his way. Such was the condition of
Pizarro, as he now revisited the place of his nativity, where he
had hitherto been known only as a poor outcast, without a home to
shelter, a father to own him, or a friend to lean upon. But he
now found both friends and followers, and some who were eager to
claim kindred with him, and take part in his future fortunes.
Among these were four brothers. Three of them, like himself, were
illegitimate; one of whom, named Francisco Martin de Alcantara,
was related to him by the mother's side; the other two, named
Gonzalo and Juan Pizarro, were descended from the father. "They
were all poor, and proud as they were poor," says Oviedo, who had
seen them; "and their eagerness for gain was in proportion to
their poverty." *7